3 March 2012

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Release Date: October 1st 2011
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Add it: Goodreads
Overall: 
 

After picking up the little pieces of my brain and putting it back together after the masterpiece that was Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I thought I'd give my brain a little time to get working again before reading anything else by Laini Taylor. Lips Touch is wonderful. Just plain wonderful. It's a collection of three short stories that has kissing, magic, fantasy creatures and that beautiful, beautiful thing that is Laini Taylor's prose and imagination. I love adore and envy Taylor's imagination and her incredible story telling ability. Each short story just gets progressively better and better. You'll think you've had and incredible taste of what's in store after you've finished Goblin Fruit and just when you think it can't get any better then Spicy Little Curses Such As These, Laini Taylor pulls out the big guns and has Hatchling bewitching your mind (I've been re-reading Harry Potter...) and believe me, will have you begging for more!

Goblin Fruit:
Stephenie Meyer! Becca Fitzpatrick! Lauren Kate! Gather around and listen! In approximately 35 pages, Laini Taylor has managed to write a better story and a more developed character than some other YA authors have in their entire series. This is a great feat. Kizzy is interesting, different and intriguing and has always been on the sidelines and has wanted that extra something in her life. This was the shortest of the three, but Kizzy's story will have you laughing and doing double takes the entire time. It's not as dark and gritty as the others, but the goblins and their fruit are fascinating, and is aplenty in so few pages.

Spicy Little Curses Such As These:
There was so much meaning in this story. Estella once made great sacrifice to a demon, and due to that, has been forced to make heavy decisions every day of her life whilst living in Hell. In order to save children, the demon says she must make sacrifices. She makes these sacrifices but when she is forced to place a curse on a baby named Anamique, the demon eventually gets more than he bargained for. Due to the curse, Anamique grows up mute, unable to even murmer a sound for the chance that it will kill anybody who hears it. She is teased and lives her life lonely until a soldier named James, finds her diary and falls in love with her. The romance that unfolds is breathtaking, beautiful and heartbreaking. Throughout, many sacrifices are made, but many lessons are learned.

Hatchling:
This was easily my favourite of the three! It BLEW MY MIND. The mythology was brilliant and once again, Laini Taylor has written a more complex and deep plot in 100 pages that many YA authors have tried (and failed) to do in their entire series. I WANT THIS MADE INTO A MOVIE. Or maybe I don't... Ohh, I don't know!! The world of the Druj is shocking and incredible. The Druj Queen keeps human children as pets until they reach child bearing age. This has so many stories rolled into one. Mab was the Queen's pet once, and her treatment was unbearable, it was absolutely horrible. When Mab is forced to have a child (literally, forced), we are told of how she managed to escape with her baby and what becomes of them once she becomes of child bearing age. Esme is incredibly three dimensional, and at first you may just think this is the story of Mab and Esme. But, it's not. This is only the tip of the iceberg and there is so much folklore and incredible world building. The 'villain' and characters who you think are just minor at first, turn out to have incredible stories of their own and Laini explores them so deeply and wonderfully that this will have you absolutely begging for more!

The illustrations are mind blowing. To call them beautiful would do them injustice. At first they don't make sense, but once you've finished, you realise they capture the true essence of each story. Jim Bartolo is so incredibly talented!


11 comments:

  1. Great review! I really want to read this since I was a huge fan of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone book. MY GOD! I LOVE THE ARTWORK! <#

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    1. Erin, it's BRILLIANT! It just gets better and better and better! And the artwork is so gorgeous! I can't even describe how incredible it is!! YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY!

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  2. I'm not really a fan of short stories but the way to describe this Taneika has me clamoring to get a copy. Incredible, incredible review!!

    I adored Daughter of Smoke and Bone and I definitely want more books my Taylor. *sigh* Guess I'll have to get this soon!

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    1. Rachel, I'm not the biggest fan of short stories either but honestly, they don't feel like short stories (ESPECIALLY HATCHLING!!). They are so incredibly deep! You must buy this immediately!

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  3. OMG YES. I envy Laini Taylor so much. How is it possible she can write so BEAUTIFULLY?! *is in love* And the depth of her imagination... holy HATCHLING. It was my favourite too! She just blew me away with the mythology and the fact that this was a short story and yet... look how layered it was?! It's something you'd expect from a series of novels! I loved each of these stories and will happily read a thousand more of Laini's novels (so interested in trying out her faeries books!!)

    And oh god, YES. The art was INCREDIBLE! I think you'd literally be able to SEE the thick smoke of creativity inside their household.... it's illegal one couple should be so TALENTED! Incredible review!! <333333333

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    1. Ohhh I know! Although they were short stories, they seemed like full blown novels because of the detail, especially Hatchling! Ohhh I am so keen for her faerie books! But they are out of print *cries*. I found a copy of Silksinger awhile back and it was going for $100 :O I'm going to have another browse now.... :D
      Thankyou Brodieee! AND YES! It should be illegal that one couple have so much freaking talent! <3

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  4. Oh...smoke and bane is in my tbr pile and now your review of lips touch is making me want to read both..NOW! Lovely review

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  5. Oh my gosh, how did I miss that Laini Taylor wrote another amazing book??? I had no clue! I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone with all of my heart too and I can't even imagine how much amazingness she could stuff into a book like this! And those pictures? SO GORGEOUS. From everything you mentioned in your review, I can already tell this book isn't lacking Laini Taylor's beautiful creativity! ;)

    Amazing review, Taneika! Thank you so much for letting me know about this book -- I'm definitely reading it now! :) <3

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  6. Thanks so much for including pictures of the illustrations. They're gorgeous! I have to admit that I have yet to read Laini Taylor, but I can't wait! Also, I'm really interested in reading the short story "Goblin Fruit." It sounds like it might be a rendition of the Christina Rosetti poem "Goblin Market."

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Taneika! I'm definitely going to have to pick this one up!

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  7. Oh my goodness, Taneika! I had no idea this was short stories! It sounds AMAZING! And oh my... Spicy Little Curses Such As These? It sounds beautful and heartbreaking. AAAAAH! I WANT this one! Shall read DOSAB first, then this. You have me SO excited for this! You have no idea!

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  8. Great review! And those illustrations are AMAZING! Definitely adding this to my TBR pile! Thanks so much for the info about it!

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